Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished ManuscriptReview Method: Peer ReviewedAbstract: Abstract: The current sociological literature concerning social policy and welfare state development relies on sweeping national and institutional processes, largely neglecting the effects of regional pressures in policy formation. This research attempt to fill this gap by addressing regional influence on the voting behavior of members of the United States House of Representative during the Great Society era. Three theories provide a framework for addressing legislator behavior. A strong regional theory suggests that the economic base and historical development of regions will be most influential in shaping social policy. A strong labor variant suggests that labor movement activity positively affects congressional voting behavior. Finally, a strong capital variant suggests that the capital/labor balance in a region, as well as, cultural attitudes concerning the roles of capital and labor in society shape the voting behavior of legislators. It is expected that the strong capital theory will be most successful in explaining the voting behavior of legislators as conservatives become more hostile and liberals more supportive of social policy as labor movement activity increases.

2. Lewis, Orion."Modeling Pressures for Media Liberalization: How the News Media Reflect International Political and Economic Pressures" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association, Hyatt Regency Albuquerque, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Mar 17, 2006<Not Available>. 2019-09-15 <http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p97215_index.html>

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished ManuscriptReview Method: Peer ReviewedAbstract: This analysis takes an initial step toward modeling the factors behind the independence of the press. I employ a unified methodology, outlined by Evan Lieberman, of nested analysis, which synthesizes findings from both cross-national panel data and an in-depth case study. The large-N analysis (LNA) highlights the significance of independent variables that measure a countrys degree of international economic integration, as well as demonstrating the importance of political institutions and social stability. The general LNA informs an in-depth analysis of the political and economic pressures that affect media liberalization within China. China, is not only an important case for studying media liberalization, it is also an on-the-line caseproviding a test of the causal logic of the model. Based on the findings of the LNA, I argue that the recent crackdown on the media in China, can be explained by the fact that it remains below average in terms of trade openness. Moreover, social protest in China has increased significantly in the last three years. To the extent that state officials view a more investigative press as the cause of social unrest, then the efforts of the Party to rein it in are better understood. Finally, the model testing small-N analysis (Mt-SNA) of media reform in China also informs one of the weaknesses in the cross-national methods available to study this issue. For example, aggregate national measures are unable to capture the friction within the Chinese media and how it drives a process of endogenous institutional change. Thus the second part of the paper is devoted to modeling those omitted factors that are not captured in the cross-national data.

2014 - Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology

Publication Type: Paper (prepared oral presentation)Review Method: Peer ReviewedAbstract: Recent literature on political polarization suggests that elite polarization is asymmetric (Barber and McCarty 2013). How about the electorate? In this paper, I theorize and hypothesize that the level of ideological thinking among ordinary citizens might vary depending on party identification. Using the data from the American National Election Studies (ANES, 1972-2012), I estimate ordinary least squares (OLS) and logistic regression models to test the relationship between party identification and cross-pressure, and the relationship between cross-pressure and voter turnout. Preliminary findings include that Republican identifiers in 2004 and 2008 were more cross-pressured than Democratic identifiers, whereas in 1972, there was no clear partisan difference, and that the cross-pressured members of the public were less likely to vote in 2008, whereas in 1972 and 2004 the effect of cross-pressure on voter turnout was not statistically significant. I contribute to the field by demonstrating that the nature, and the consequence, of cross-pressure experienced by the public are more complex than previously believed: The partisan difference in cross-pressure and the effect of cross-pressure on voter turnout exist in some periods, but not in others. I conclude by discussing the implications of the empirical findings for representation in the United States.

4. Harrington, James."Managers Under Pressure- Examining the Impact of Performance Information and Accountability Pressures on the Attrition of Public Executives" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, The Hyatt Regency New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, Jan 09, 2014<Not Available>. 2019-09-15 <http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p698532_index.html>

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished ManuscriptReview Method: Peer ReviewedAbstract: Performance information systems are becoming more readily available in the public sector as a means to monitor public agencies and to ultimately hold them accountable for their performance. For this reason, public managers are under greater amounts of pressure as they strive to meet the expectations of their accountability regimes. To fill a gap in the public management literature, this paper examines the impact of accountability pressures and governing boards’ usage of performance information on public executive attrition. In this paper, I argue that accountability pressures are associated with higher levels of performance information usage among board members, which in turn leads to higher executive turnover; yet the effects are not uniformly felt across organizations. More interestingly and contrary to common belief, public executives in low performing organizations under low accountability pressures do not suffer from higher attrition rates compared to other organizations. This effect is partially contributed to lower rates of performance information usage among board members in these types of organizations. To contribute to the literature, this paper provides empirical evidence of the impacts of accountability pressures and performance information usage on public executive attrition. Using state-wide administrative data of superintendents and school board members from a Midwest state, I find that low-performing organizations experience lower levels of executive attrition and lower levels of performance information usage. Yet, organizations on the margins of meeting accountability benchmarks experience more executive turnover and greater performance information usage.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished ManuscriptReview Method: Peer ReviewedAbstract: In the late 1980s, scholars agreed on two "facts": communism was failing throughout the Soviet bloc and nationalism, particularly violent, aggressive nationalism, was succeeding. For a couple of years, these facts held true. Communism's demise and the spread of democracy in the early 1990s, indeed, resulted in about a dozen ethnic wars in East Central Europe. Within a few short years, however, violent ethnic conflict and aggressive nationalist rhetoric began to subside. Despite the wane of nationalism and ethnic problems in this region and elsewhere, conventional wisdom about nationalism and ethnic conflict remain unchanged.
This article addresses this oversight by explaining how what I refer to as a transnational advocacy network has worked to prevent ethnic conflicts in post-communist countries. It differentiates between national governments, international organizations and international non-governmental organizations and discusses their strategies for moderating tensions. While referring to broad changes in Central Europe, this paper highlights the current status of ethnic Hungarians in Romania.